TR-909 Drum Sample Pack WAV

HY2ROG3N | 02.09.2014 | 3 MB

It goes without saying, the Roland TR-909 Drum Machine is the most established and lusted after drum machine in the world. It’s been used and in almost every electronic music producers studio because of the distinguishable kick drum, snare and clap sound. We love the Roland TR-909 and have lusted after it for years, just recently we aquired one in absolutely perfect condition. The logical thing for us to do was to take it in to the studio and record a sample pack which retains the quality and punch of the hardware machine. Recorded directly from our original, perfect condition Roland TR-909 with many control variations we managed to create a complete sample pack that is ready to use in your electronic music productions. Our TR-909 was routed and mastered using the high end outboard gear meaning this Roland TR-909 sample collection is as close to the original as possible Totalling 126 individual drum sounds this pack aims to give you the most complete all round package. Every attention to detail has been made! So what are waiting for, stop reading this and grab this TR-909 sample pack and add some classic punch and character to your productions.

The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analogue, partially sample-based, drum machine introduced by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and cost-effectiveness. It is fully programmable, and like its predecessor, the TR-808, it can store entire songs with multiple sections, as opposed to simply storing patterns. It was the first MIDI-equipped drum machine. Around 10,000 units were produced.

As with the TB-303, the realism of the TR-909 was severely limited by technical constraints, and this showed when the machines were released at relatively low prices before its rise in popularity, coinciding with the beginnings of techno and acid. More expensive, sample-based drum computers were better at faithfully reproducing real drum sounds, while the TR-909 sounded synthetic.

All drum sounds in the TR-909 except for the hi-hats and cymbals are synthetically generated; there is an oscillator circuit with a dedicated filter and envelope curve. The hi-hats and cymbals are 6-bit samples, compressed and combined with a volume envelope curve (and tuning) to allow slight modification. Thanks to the analog circuitry, various aspects of the drum sound can be modified (pitch, attack, decay).

There is also a feature called “accent”—a primitive means of humanizing the drumbeat. In a simplified model of a drummer and a kit, the loudness of the sound created would basically depend on the velocity at which the drummer hits a given part of the kit. A human drummer can emphasize certain notes by playing them louder, and the accent parameter provides a means to boost a particular step.

Part of the charm of the TR-909 comes from its 16-step sequencer — today it might look primitive, not allowing subtle grooves and being limited in variety with only 16 steps, while a more lively, complicated drum pattern might need much more than that. On the other hand, acid techno music is usually simple compared to the styles that might require more than 16 steps to a bar. For example, punching the buttons 1, 5, 9 and 13 on the bass drum part would create a simple “four to the floor” beat.